Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Richard Arthur Amyas Smith (4 March 1922 - 27 April 1993) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer who served during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was awarded a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for gallantry and leadership whilst serving as a

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

commander in the gliderborne 2nd

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. The regiment was formed as a consequence of th ...

(the 52nd) coup de main operation; tasked to capture

Pegasus Bridge Pegasus Bridge, originally called the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, is a road crossing over the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham in Normandy. The original bridge, built in 1934, is now a war memorial and is the cent ...

and

Horsa Bridge Horsa Bridge, also known as Ranville Bridge, over the Orne river, was, along with Pegasus Bridge, captured during Operation Tonga by gliderborne troops of the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (the 52nd) in a ''coup de main'' o ...

during the opening minutes of

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

, 6 June 1944. The capture of both bridges was considered to be critical to securing the left flank of the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

area.

Early life

Smith was born in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, India. He was educated at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

and St John's College,

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

where he took a degree in History. He represented the Public Schools at

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

before the outbreak of the

and had the highest scoring rate of any Public School batsman. He later represented Cambridge University at Rugby. Smith was commissioned into the

in March 1943. He was posted to the 2nd Ox and Bucks (the 52nd) and placed in command of No 14 platoon B Company. The 2nd Ox and Bucks formed part of

6th Airlanding Brigade 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

6th Airborne Division The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. Despite its name, the 6th was actually the second of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, the other being t ...

Pegasus Bridge

Smith and his platoon were attached to

Major John Howard Major Reginald John Howard DSO (8 December 1912 – 5 May 1999) was a British Army officer who led a glider-borne assault that captured the Caen canal and Orne river bridges on 6 June 1944, as part of the D-Day landings during the Second W ...

's D Company 2nd Ox and Bucks who were to lead the gliderborne coup de main operation on D-Day to capture Benouville bridge over the Caen canal, now known as

and Ranville bridge over the River Orne, now known as

. Smith's platoon was one of three platoons tasked to capture Pegasus Bridge before the main assault on the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

beaches began. On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Smith's platoon was in the 3rd Glider to land at Pegasus Bridge, landing at 00.18hrs. He received a knee injury on landing however he and his No 3 platoon crossed the bridge and established defensive positions to reinforce Lieutenant

Den Brotheridge Lieutenant Herbert Denham Brotheridge (8 December 1915 – 6 June 1944) was a British Army officer who served with the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (the 52nd) during the Second World War. He is often considered to ...

's No 1 Platoon. He was wounded in the wrist by a grenade and after Brotheridge had been killed he also took over command of No 1 platoon on the Western side of the bridge. After the bridge had been secured he agreed to be moved to a First Aid post in

Ranville Ranville () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Ranville was the first French village liberated on D-Day. The village was liberated by the British 13th Parachute Battalion, commanded by Lieute ...

. He was awarded a Military Cross for his gallantry and leadership whilst injured. The operation to capture both bridges was portrayed in the 1962 film The Longest Day.

North-West Europe 1944-45

He served with 2nd Ox and Bucks in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

and the Netherlands from December 1944 to February 1945. He took part in

Operation Varsity Operation Varsity (24 March 1945) was a successful airborne forces operation launched by Allied troops that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest air ...

: the air assault landing over the River Rhine on 24 March 1945 and in the advance across Germany to the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

port of

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

. Smith commanded the 2nd Ox and Bucks guard of honour for the meeting between

Field Marshal Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and ...

and

Marshal Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who beca ...

on 7 May 1945.

Post-war

Following the Second World War he served in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

before being demobilised from the Army in 1946. Smith pursued a business career and became a director of both Shell and BP in India. He lived in

Chedworth, Gloucestershire Chedworth is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, southwest England, in the Cotswolds. It is known as the location of Chedworth Roman Villa, administered since 1924 by the National Trust. Chedworth Stream rises close to the village a ...

References

*Obituary The Times 8 May 1993.

Bibliography

*''Pegasus Bridge'',

Stephen Ambrose Stephen Edward Ambrose (January 10, 1936 – October 13, 2002) was an American historian, most noted for his biographies of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a longtime professor of history at the University of New O ...

(1984) *''The Pegasus and Orne Bridges'', Neil Barber (2009) *''The Pegasus Diaries'', John Howard and Penny Bates (2006) *''The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (The 43rd/52nd Regiment of Foot)'', Philip Booth (1971) *'' The Longest Day'',

Cornelius Ryan Cornelius Ryan (5 June 1920 – 23 November 1974) was an Irish-American journalist and author known mainly for writing popular military history. He was especially known for his histories of World War II events: '' The Longest Day: 6 June 1944 D- ...

(1959) *''One Night in June'', Kevin Shannon and Stephen Wright (1994) *''Gliderborne: The story of the 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (The 52nd) in World War II'' (2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Sandy British Army personnel of World War II Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers 1922 births 1993 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People educated at Tonbridge School Recipients of the Military Cross Military personnel from Karachi British Army officers Military personnel of British India